The Battle of Mełchów, one of many clashes of the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

, took place on September 30, 1863, in the village of

Mełchów Mełchów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lelów, within Częstochowa County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Lelów, east of Częstochowa, and north-east of the regional capit ...

(near

Lelów Lelów ( - ''Lelov'') is a village in Częstochowa County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Lelów. It lies on the Białka river, approximately east of Częstochowa and ...

), which at that time belonged to the Russian-controlled

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. A party of 800 Polish insurgents, commanded by , clashed with soldiers of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. Russian losses were estimated at approximately 100 killed, while Polish losses totaled 70 killed and wounded. After skirmishes near Cierno, Warzyn and Czarnca, Chmieleński concentrated insurgent units in Drochlin, where he was joined by some riflemen of Captain Albert Esterhazy. When Russians found out about the insurgent camp, they sent there infantry, dragoons, Cossacks and two cannons. Polish forces had some 800 men, and the battle began with the Russian barrage of the village, after which infantry entered the fray. The Russian objective was to seize the local forest and then destroy the insurgent party. Chmieleński ordered his forces to halt the enemy and then sent the Polish cavalry in to counterattack. Due to the subsequent Russian artillery fire, the Polish advance was stopped. However, the insurgents regrouped and attacked again, this time with bayonets. Among those wounded during the cavalry charge was

Adam Chmielowski Albert Chmielowski (20 August 1845 – 25 December 1916) - born ''Adam Hilary Bernard Chmielowski'' - was a Polish Franciscan tertiary, painter, and disabled veteran of the Uprising of 1863. He was founder of both the Albertine Brothers and Alb ...

. The left insurgent wing under Captain Esterhazy repelled several counterattacks, but after Esterhazy's death, his units dispersed and began a retreat towards main insurgent forces. Soon afterwards Colonel Wladyczanski, commander of the right insurgent wing, was mortally wounded. The lack of both left- and right-side leaders forced Chmieleński to order all of this men to withdraw towards Lgoczanka. Russian soldiers, who were busy with looting villages in the area, did not chase the Poles.

Sources

Stefan Kieniewicz Stefan Kieniewicz (20 September 1907, in Dereszewicze – 2 May 1992, in Konstancin-Jeziorna, Konstancin) was a Polish historian and university professor, notable for his works on the 19th-century history of Poland. During his work at various uni ...

: ''Powstanie styczniowe''. Warszawa:

Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i ...

, 1983. .

References

Conflicts in 1863 1863 in Poland Melchow History of Silesian Voivodeship September 1863 {{Russia-battle-stub